Meeting Mindelan
by theweirdworder
Summary: Fianola, Lena and Yvenne were, by some stroke of luck, able to see the duel between Lord Wyldon and Keladry of Mindelan. By another, they were even able to meet her! Written in Fianola's POV and set during Squire. Written for TPE's May/June Prompt


Note: The following fic contains direct dialogue/ the scene from pages 308- 312 of _Squire_(and I suppose includes parts from 305- 308). Once again, I own nothing.

Meeting Mindelan 

Keladry. Keladry of Mindelan. Wow. Fianola could hardly contain her excitement at the prospect of seeing her. Before Fianola had been too afraid to be the one too afraid to break the ice, to be the first lady knight to go through training with her gender known. But now... Now someone else had done it for her. Sure, Fianola may have been two years older than the required age but of course she could always work around that.

As Fianola sat in the spectator's box, she watched the two fourth-year squires currently dueling with disinterest.

''Is she on yet?'' Yvenne, her eight-year-old younger sister, asked, squirming with anticipation with bright eyes.

''She will be,'' Fianola replied. Gods, her sister was so annoying! It was only last week that she decided that she wanted to be a lady knight while Fianola wanted to be one for as long as she could remember.

''She's against Wyldon of Cavall,'' their other nine-year-old sister, Lena said, shrugging her shoulders. ''She doesn't stand a chance.''

''You don't know that,'' Yvenne said, crossing her arms. ''Just because she's a girl doesn't mean she can't win.''

''Of course not. It's just that _she's against Lord Wyldon_,'' Lena retorted, loftily lifting her head as if there was a bug below her. ''I still can't believe Mother and Father agreed to let us go.''

''I can't believe Mother and Father made me take you with me,'' Fianola said drily.

''Well it was only because of Fianola...''

From the corner of her eye, Fianola saw them begin to take their places. Caught up in their chatter, they must have missed the two squires make their exit.

''Shh... It's starting!''

Lord Wyldon came charging toward the lady knight on a gray horse. Keladry aimed her lance at him but it shattered immediately upon impact. Fianola could not take her eyes away from the sight of it, feeling her fists clench and her eyes widen at the sight of it all.

Both went back to the points in which they started with Keladry taking a new lance. Fianola bit her lip. Though the odds were in Wyldon's favor, Fianola felt ever nerve of her rally in support of her hero. She looked at her two younger sisters, who seemed to be just as immersed in all of the action as she was.

Once again they went at it. Only then it was Wyldon's lance that shattered upon impact. Fianola felt a smile creep up her face. Could this possibly be a victory for Keladry?

Only this final time could tell. Fianola sat back on her seat, biting her lip. Keladry, Keladry, Keladry, she rooted silently, as if that could somehow reach her minds or that of the gods.

Once again she watched as Keladry hurdled towards Lord Wyldon. Fianola flinched, expecting that she would fall off the saddle. Yet somehow the squire managed to stay on that saddle, looking only slightly dizzy from Fianola's view.

''Who won?'' Yvenne asked eagerly. ''She was _beautiful_ out there.''

Fianola rolled her eyes. This week Yvenne had made it a point to cram the word ''beautiful'' everwhere she possibly could.

Fianola bit her lip, looking towards the judges' table. ''I think the judges gave victory to Lord Wyldon,'' she said, her shoulders drooping.

''Hey, at least she managed to stay on the saddle!'' Lena exclaimed.

''She should be going back to her tent now,'' Yvenne said.

''Yes.''

''Do you think we should go see her, Fianola?''

''No,'' she said nervously, though her nerves thrummed with excitement at the prospect. ''We shouldn't intrude... but...''

''This is the chance of a lifetime, Fianola!'' Yvenne said, passionately gesticulating her hands. ''It will be beautiful!''

''We'll never see her again anyway,'' Lena said. ''Why not?''

If Fianola never saw the lady knight then she would never get her questions answered.

Fianola nodded. ''All right,'' she said.

When they went to her tent, they found the lady knight asleep.

''Just wait until she wakes up,'' Lena said.

''Maybe...'' Fianola began, waiting.

''Wait.''

For a few moments, they stood there waiting for Kel to wake up.

''Is she going to sleep _forever_?'' Yvenne asked finally.

Fianola glared at her. Waking up the lady knight would surely _not_ leave a very good impression.

''I can't believe she stayed in the saddle,'' Lena said again, her eyes as bright and wide as they were before. ''Papa said Lord Wyldon unseats everybody.''

''When he hit her the third time?'' Yvenne said. ''I thought his lance would go right through her. But he didn't unseat her. He shook her hand!''

''We should go, if she's asleep,'' Fianola said, wringing her hands as she felt the knots in her stomach tighten. ''It's just, we won't know anything, if we don't ask.''

Under their eyes, she began to wake up. Fianola felt excited and yet horrified at the same time. Had they dared to wake her up?''

''It's... all right,'' the girl said, licking her lips. ''I was waking up.''

For a moment, Fianola stood there stunned. Then as she regained her senses, she realized that Keladry was thirsty.

''Is there water about, and a cup?'' Fianola asked cautiously.

The dog sitting besides Keladry walked her to a small table with water. Fianola filled the cup and brought it towards her.

Fianola watched as the girl drank the water and ate the apple besides her.

''My thanks,'' she said.

She was actually talking to Keladry of Mindelan! Excitement danced inside of her nerves and she could barely keep it from exploding.

''You broke his lance!'' Yvenne exclaimed, bursting with excitement. ''It was _beautiful_!''

''Beautiful is Yvenne's word of the week,'' Fianola informed their idol, sounding calmer than she actually felt.

''Mama says if me and Fianola still really want to, in a year, she'll let us try,'' Lena said. Of course, Mama said that Yvenne could go the year after though it was obvious that she would only find some new thing to dream about. ''Fianola will do it even though she's too old.''

Gods, she could not believe that Lena just said that! Fianola ducked her head down in shame. Not only that but she had the grammar of a commoner. ''Fianola and _I_,'' she corrected Lena.

Keladry only smiled. ''My best friend, Nealan of Queenscove, was fifteen when he started,'' she said, her voice serious. ''He's squire to Alanna the Lioness now.''

Fifteen? Fianola felt her jaw drop in awe. Compared to him, Fianola's situation wasn't nearly as bad.

Still that was not what they came for. ''We hoped,'' Fianola said, feeling humbled being next to Keladry, ''if you don't mind...'' It was bad enough for them to barge in the tent but to barrage her with questions. She should have known better.

''Have you advice for us?'' Yvenne asked, impatiently cutting her off. ''Things we can practice, like archery, and horseback riding, except we know about those.''

''Do we have to be as big as you?'' Lena asked, looking down at her own short frame self-consciously.

Fianola noted inwardly that she was lucky to be naturally tall even if it was something that made her the brunt of jokes by her peers.

Keladry sat up, reaching for the shirt and breeches that someone had laid out. Fianola took the shirt, gave it a shake and then handed it to her. The squire thanked them before putting the shirt over her head.

''I'm just lucky that I'm big,'' she told them. ''Alanna the Lioness is a head shorter than me and she manages. It will help if you run,'' she said as she tied up the laces on her shirt. ''Up and down stairs, on broken ground. Run for a long time. That builds up your wind and stamina and your legs. Climb. Hunt. Really work on archery and riding. Lift heavy things. I worked hard- I still do. Don't let anyone say it's easy.'' Fianola watched her with eager eyes, already mapping out her summer workout based her on advice. Fianola handed her her breeches with a giddy smile on her face though Keladry seemed so tired that she did not seem to notice.

Sitting on her chair, Keladry looked at them almost as if she was trying to figure them out. Her face was blank. Unable to determine the impression they made on her, Fianola lifted her head up and returned her gaze.

Then Keladry began to speak.

''More importantly,'' she said carefully with each syllable pronounced, ''be ready to put up with things- insults, practical jokes, dirty tricks. Nobody will make it easy. You'll be called names and accused of doing things that you'd expect from the worst slattern who works the upstairs rooms at the inns.''

Of course no one would make it easy. If many of their own relatives weren't supportive, their grandparents especially, what made her think that the boys there would be either? She was going to be a knight at any cost though and that silly stuff mattered very little.

''None of that is important so long as you win through your goal,'' Keladry added, meeting Fianola's eyes as well as the eyes of her sisters.

''Shoo, please,'' Keladry said with a smile on her lips. ''I need to go eat.''

All of them staggered to the door. Fianola remembered with horror that she forgot to curtsy so stopped and did so hastily. Her sisters followed suit. Then they all ran out of the tent.

''Oh my gods,'' Yvenne said, beaming. ''We just met Keladry of Mindelan! It was _beautiful_!''

''I know,'' Fianola said, feeling that dazed smile take up her features. Stunned, she could barely manage to say those words.

She met Lena's eyes. This would surely be something that they would recount to her children and grandchildren in the years to come.

**So this was something that I've been wanting to do for a long time and I thought it would be great to do for the contest. Please review!**


End file.
